Being a valued employer comes from being in tune with your employees’ needs and granting them the necessary resources to be productive and successful within the company. The best employers are aware that many of their employees are showing up to work every day accompanied by their own financial burdens. These burdens can shed a negative light on a positive workplace. This is where a benefits broker can be a company’s biggest asset in helping employees gain financial stability through proper financial wellness programs and a little coaching.

According to SHRM, financial wellness programs are present in just about half of all companies in the U.S. However, as reported by Employee Benefit Advisor, the biggest issue with most of these financial wellness programs is that they fail to stimulate employee engagement. They went on to find that employees are struggling with debt and it is keeping them from financial prosperity. Debt happens to be the biggest reason that employees are not able to properly save nor achieve financial stability.

But employers don’t have time to spend their entire day looking into financial wellness programs that would best support their employees. This is why your company has a benefits broker. Your benefits broker is supposed to have a handful of programs that they think would best suit your company’s needs. The best way to get a proper understanding of what your employees want and need is to conduct a survey provided by your benefits broker. From there, your broker can then get an accurate break down of what exactly is missing from your company and what program should be implemented to fill said void.

For starters, when implementing a new financial wellness program, it is best to keep user-friendliness in mind. If a program isn’t user-friendly, then it will most likely be the case that employee engagement will be well under the intended goal. With financial stress at an all time high, having negative repercussions and mitigated productivity are costing companies millions of dollars in output. Financial wellness programs are an investment because, when properly implemented, they cultivate robust budgeting skills that allow your employees to overcome the financial stressors that are stunting their productivity and growth.

Make sure you get the most out of your broker by utilizing their tools and resources. If you, the employer, want to stay on top of things and ensure employee wellness and optimal growth conditions, try to survey your employees at least twice a year. The benefits and resources market is constantly changing and there are always new trends to better support any company.